Hidden heroes: Sewol ferry incident's divers

By Jeong Ji-su

Sewol ferry incident’s rescue team divers are the true hidden heroes, said Yonhap News Monday.

It has been almost a week since the tragedy happened. From the day of the incident, the rescue team members have been residing in Jeju Maritime Police’s patrol ship number 3012, searching for survivors and retrieving dead bodies.

Earlier when the incident happened, the divers did not get sufficient supplies and had to stay in the seawater for about 12 hours once they started searching and even skipped meals.

The rescue committee now provides them with high energy food such as bananas and Choco Pies, but a lot of the divers have fallen ill, due to the long exposure to the cold seawater and strong wind.

“I have a cold, but I feel sorry even to take antibiotics when I think about the students trapped in the ferry,” said Kim, a diver from the rescue team. “We are putting all our efforts in for a miracle,” he added.

Also, the divers refused to eat the delivered high protein food ― abalone porridge ― saying that they don’t feel like eating it when they see the bereaved families in sorrow.